


Chivalry

by Saesama



Series: 28xFirst Kiss Combo [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullies, F/M, First Kiss, Teenage Dorks, john there are better ways to ask a girl out, teenagers in fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 20:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saesama/pseuds/Saesama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Egbert does NOT let his friends get pushed around by bullies.</p>
<p>Even if said friend is a blackbelt in Judo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chivalry

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same AU as [Extracurricular Activities](http://archiveofourown.org/works/606990).

As spring warms up you walk home from most practices, enjoying the balmy nights and even the occasional rain as long as it isn't witches-tits cold. And even if the weather is crappy, you've found another reason to enjoy the walks.

Roxy.

If cheer runs as late as football, she'll join you on your way home. At first it feels kind of awkward - Roxy is Jane's BFF and Rose's big sister and one step removed from you in both friend circles and jeez, what do you have in common with a pretty, smart-as-fuck senior? But it turns out, quite a lot, once you figure out that Roxy's a no-shit hacker and that she's almost as silly as you are. You tell her about pranks you've pulled and magic tricks you've carried out and she giggles and goes over your shitty code on her phone and gives you crash sidewalk lessons in C+.

Also, you find out that while she's not Egbert strong (but let's be fair, almost no one is) she's taken martial arts since she was a kid and in a fair fight, she'd lose against, like, Dirk and maybe Jake and that's about it. She tries to keep that on the down-low because 'boys get freaked out when a girl can kick their ass but if a motha-fuck starts shit I can bust it out like a fuckin' superpower!'

And she's really freaking pretty.

Jane would wring your neck if she saw what's going through your head but damn it, you can crush of Roxy if you want. It's not like you have a chance with her; her and Jane (and Dirk, if Dave is to be believed) are all trying to get Captain Oblivious McBootyshorts to wake up and join the dating game and you can admit that Jake is some pretty stiff competition. So you'll just enjoy your walks home and pine like- shit, like a love-struck teenager, fuck your _life._

Whatever.

As April progresses, Roxy starts to get a bit stressed, because she's fighting Dirk for top of the class and he's not making it easy and he doesn't have practice four times a week and games on Fridays and a competition at the end of the month. You let her rant at you and try to get her to relax and it feels like victory when you can coax a genuine smile out of her. Master seducer, that's you. You are simply the best there is. At being an awkward teenage derp, what the fuck is flirting even and why don't they teach this in class?! Jesus.

Roxy seems to appreciate the effort though, and she keeps her little smile as you walk, totally a Lalonde smilenigma but it's soft around the edges. She's also walking kind of close to you and you're pretty sure you can smell the faint notes of her perfume over the evening smells of cut grass and citronella candles. You swallow and shove your hands in your pockets so that you don't do something dumb like try and hold her hand.

"Hey! Hey, Roxy!"

Roxy goes stiff at the voice calling her name and your stomach sinks. Trey is a douchebag and he's the Senior Quarterback and you kind of really hate him. He jogs up and almost shoulder checks you to the side so he can walk between the two of you. Three of his sycophants loiter behind you and you don't like this, this is like middle school all over again, in the days before Dave moved up here and taught you how to kick enough ass that the bullies fucked off.

"So, hey, Rox," Trey oozes, curling his arm around Roxy's shoulders and your sinking stomach goes hot and tight. "I hear you're going butch with Jane Egbert to prom."

Roxy shrugs and you're totally unsurprised when it doesn't dislodge his arm. "It's a totes kinky four-way prom date," she says. "Me an' Jane are gonna cut a fuckin' rug, show all you fools how it's done."

Trey laughs like he's sharing some kinda secret with her. "Cute," he says. "But how about you ditch the dorks and let me teach you how to really dance, huh?"

Roxy shoots him a hard glare. "Sorry," she says, drawing out the word into a sharp insult. "I'm not ditching my _friends_ , Treyster."

"Oh come on," he cajoles. "The cheer captain is supposed to date the quarterback, right? You're breaking tradition, Rox."

"She wears short skirts," you mutter sing-song under your breath. "I wear a helmet so I can't lick windows."

Trey whips around and glares at you. "You say something, freshman?" he hisses.

You blink up at him, all wide-eyed innocence. "Who, me?"

Roxy smirks at you and ducks out from under Trey's arm. "Sooooo sorry to disappoint you," she says. "But I've never been one for tradition."

Trey's face goes dark and thunderous, because no one tells the star player 'no'. "Hey," he growls. "I'm not done talking to you yet." And then he grabs her by the arm and yeah, Roxy has a black belt in Judo but you can't just stand by and watch someone mess with your friends.

"Pretty sure she's not interested," you say, snatching Trey's hand off of Roxy. Roxy aborts her spin around and from the looks of it, she would have finished it with a solid punch to Trey's temple. You stare Trey down, almost his height and definitely his mass and you realize that you're not scared of him even a little bit.

Trey snatches his arm from your grip and gets right up in your face. "Yeah?" he sneers. "And what are you, her secretary? You fucking touch me again, freshman, and you'll be sorry."

"You touch her again, and I'll break your fucking face," you respond, quiet and low and you can't remember ever being this angry.

You forgot about Trey's buddies.

A fist sinks into your kidneys, pain spreading like a brilliant sunburst in your lower back. Your knees unhinge and Trey catches you by the front of your t-shirt. "You're gonna pay, Egbert," he grins in your face.

Roxy's blow is a solid chop to the windpipe. Trey gags on air and you rear back and headbutt him right between the eyes. Your skull rings with the action but he reels back and drops you. More hands grab you and you fight past the haze of pain in your back and head to swing wildly at your new assailant. You catch a glancing blow on his shoulder and he stumbles back and oh god, Roxy, Jesus she's beautiful.

She drops to kick Jeremy's feet out from under him and an elbow in his gut keeps him down. Then she's up and taking advantage of you staggering Mike, spinning him around to sink her knee into his belly and drop another elbow between his shoulders and he goes down, too. Frank looms up behind her and bear hugs her and oh hell no. She smashes her head into his face and when he lets her go with a cry, you get behind him and get your arm around his neck and you don't choke him out but it's close.

You drop Frank on top of Jeremy and watch Roxy step over Mike to reach Trey. His nose is bleeding, possibly busted, and she yanks him up by his hair. "Stay the fuck away from me," she hisses. "Stay the fuck away from my friends. And if you try and get revenge on either of us, I'm pressing charges. What school is gonna give you a scholarship with a domestic violence case against you?"

"Fuck you, bitch," Trey spits.

Roxy's lip curls. "Baby, you _wish_ ," she says, then she digs her fingers into the pressure point of his shoulder like a freaking Vulcan neck pinch and he howls in agony. She's terrifying when she's pissed and if you didn't have a crush on her before, you sure as hell do now. She drops Trey and grabs your hand and you both run, not slowing down until you're three blocks over and around two corners.

Your back hurts and your head is pounding and you forget about both when you look at Roxy. She's incandescent with rage, even after running half a mile, and she looks like she's straight-up gonna murder someone. There's also a bruise rising on her arm where Trey grabbed her and maybe she's not the only one who wants to kill a bitch. You open you mouth and she beats you to the punch. "You okay, John?"

Your jaw snaps back shut. "Uh, yeah," you fumble out.

"Good." And then she hauls off and socks you in the arm.

"Ow, fuck! What the hell?"

Roxy glares at you. "I coulda handled that," she grouses, and the way she's almost pouting at you makes your gut go shivery.

"Nuh uh, fuck that," you protest. "Four on one isn't fair odds even for a karate-"

"Hello, Judo!"

"-master."

"Black belt."

"Same thing." Roxy makes a frustrated noise and throws her hands up in the air and you grin at her. "Hey, I coulda pulled a Jake and insisted you sit it out entirely, because what kind of chap allows a lady fair to fight, wot?"

Roxy bursts out laughing. "Jake doesn't say 'wot,' you dweeb," she says but she's smiling again and that's what matters. You shrug and fall back into step beside her, keeping an ear open for an ambush or something, and you almost miss it when Roxy says "Well, thanks."

"Hey, you don't have to thank me," you say, nudging her shoulder with your own. "Friends don't let friends fight buttheads alone."

She shakes her head a little, glancing up at you from beneath her lashes and your heart thuds so hard it hurts. "Still," she says, bumping your shoulder back. "I feel like I owe you, you know?"

"Do not," you say and god, she's so, just, _fuck,_ you've got it bad and you're going to say something dumb. "I mean," you shrug, gesturing vaguely. "I don't think you owe me at all, if you wanna kiss me for my chivalry or something, cool, I'm down, but-" and no, shut the fuck up Egbert, you went and said something dumb, way to go. Roxy whips her head around to stare at you and you clench your stupid mouth shut hard enough to make your jaw ache and debate pitching yourself in front of the next car that passes. "Um."

Then Roxy grins wickedly and steps in front of you, forcing you to stop. "Will that make us even?" she asks, sly and amused and, are you imagining this, or is she nervous? Can Roxy even get nervous?

"Um," you repeat, because your upper thought processes are caught in a loop of self-flagellation and admiration and holy shit, she's close. Her grin softens at edges, goes sweet and genuine and she steps closer, goes up on her toes with her hands on your biceps for balance and-

Soft. Her lips are soft and you can faintly taste her strawberry lip gloss and maybe you don't need traffic to end you because it feels like your heart is going to explode. You flex your hands a little and settle them on her waist to help her balance and press your mouth a little more against hers. She tilts her head a little and winds her arms around your neck and okay, yeah, wow. Kissing is kind of really awesome, even though you're pretty sure you're not doing it quite right.

She ends it, slow and lingering, then grins up at you, her arms still around your neck. "So," she asks, teasing again. "Is Janey gonna kill me for macking on her little bro?"

"Dunno," you counter. "Is she gonna kill me for macking on her bee-eff-effsie?"

"Point," Roxy admits. She pecks you on the lips one more time and steps back, but she grabs your hand and that kind of makes up for it. You walk in silence for a little; well, Roxy walks, you might be floating, you're not sure. You're a block from her house when you finally speak up. "So," you say. "Does this make us a... thing?"

"I dunno," she says, looking at you slyly. "Do you want it to be a thing?"

"Well," you say slowly. "I like you, and I would really like to kiss you again, so, yeah?"

"Well," she says, leaning her head against your shoulder. "Then we're a thing."

Holy shit. _Holy shit._ Yep, you're grinning like a dumbass, but, _holy shit._

You manage to calm down a little by the time you walk her up to her door. She turns and looks at you, and you dip your head to kiss her again because you're pretty sure you can get away with it. She makes a little surprised, pleased noise and pushes back and it's even better this time. You pull back, a little too close still, and smile. "Night, Roxy," you say. 

"G'night, John," she half-whispers, then turns and walks into the house, glancing back at you over her shoulder as she goes.

The entire way home, you're pretty sure your feet don't actually touch the ground and your cheeks hurt from the big doofus grin you're sporting. You're a few blocks from your house, near the elementary school, when you realize you're being followed.

You slow and start to turn, and hope to Christ it's not Trey again, when Jake slings his arm over your shoulders. "John, old boy," he says, bright and casual and with just enough iron in his tone to set you on edge. "How are you tonight?"

"Um, fine?" you hedge. Another arm curls around you from the other side, and Dirk's there, casual and calm and oh fuck, what did you do now? "What's up, guys?"

They steer you onto the school grounds, towards the playground. "You'll never believe," Jake says. "What Rose just called and told us."

Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Yeah?" you manage. "What's that?"

Jake leans in, conspiratory. "Roxy," he stage-whispers. "Has nabbed herself a beau."

"Really," you say, and damn it, your voice cracks.

"And it's a shame," Dirk drawls from your other side. "Roxy doesn't have any men in her family. No brother to check the guy out and make sure he's legit, no dad to casually threaten him if he dares hurt his little girl, that kind of shit."

"We're about the closest she's got," Jake laments.

"Guess we'll have to step in and fill the role," Dirk adds.

"Oh my god," you groan. "Are you two serious?"

"John," Jake says, in that overly bright way that means you're going to regret the next few minutes. "This is a very important part of dating that we'd hate for you to miss out on."

You bolt. Escape is pointless, but maybe if you can make it to your back yard, Jane will come out and tell them to knock it off. Right now, she's your only hope.

You duck and dodge Dirk as he flash-steps in your path and you vault the chain-link fence at the back of the playground with one hand. Then you're running like you never have before, your hair streaming back from your forehead and your yard is right there and-

Jake flat-out tackles you and the two of you crash through Mrs. Braeburn's rosebushes in an ungainly pile. "For fuck's sake," you snap, trying to elbow Jake in the head. "I've already been in one fight today!"

"Proud of you," Jake grunts, taking the blow to the shoulder. He gets you rolled over onto your back and he sits on your sore stomach. "With who?"

"Trey Stone," you grit out, trying to punch him. 

Dirk grabs your hands and pins them in the dirt. "Was he hitting on Roxy again?" he asks, grunting in pain when you dig your nails into the back of his hand.

"He grabbed her," you bite out. Jake stops struggling with you long enough for his eyebrows to climb. "Him and his buddies started shit and we ended it. Me and Roxy."

"Roxy and I," Dirk corrects you. You ignore him.

"Did you win?" Jake questioned, prodding you in the chest.

"I guess?" you say. "I choked out Frank West."

"Dirk," Jake hums after a moment. "He's positively chivalrous. Surely, such a gentleman should be good for our darling Lalonde. Perhaps we should let him off easy?"

"Hm." Dirk tilts his head, thoughtful. Then he grins, and no Strider has ever been up to anything good while wearing that smile. "Nah."

Jake shrugs fatalistically. "Sorry, John," he says, not quite regretful. "You heard the man."

Before they can do more than lean over you again, Dirk is hauled back with an inelegant ' _hurk_!' Jane's standing there, her hand fisted into Dirk's collar, and you've never been so glad to see her in your life. "What," Jane says patiently. "Are you idiots doing?"

"John's dating Roxy," Dirk says, exactly like a little kid tattling.

"I know," Jane says, dropping Dirk's shirt. "You guys interrupted our girl gossip over it. Roxy says she'll break all three of you over her knee if you start fighting for her honor."

"This is a time-honored tradition," Jake sniffs.

"This is stupid," Jane counters. "Especially since Roxy can take care of herself."

"Not the point," Jake argues, but he gets off of you. You immediately try to punch him in the crotch.

"Okay, you know what?" Jane says, throwing up her hands as Jake tries to get you in a head-lock. "You're on your own, John." She stalks off, while Dirk sits back to do commentary on your fight.


End file.
